UFV students attend dinner with Governor General and prepare for Cities and Food conference

UFV alum Jeremy Wagner and current student Lisa Harrington recently attended dinner at Rideau Hall in Ottawa and celebrated success as Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Scholars (QES). The dinner was hosted by Canada’s Governor General, David Johnston, and was attended by former Prime Minister Jean Chretien and nine other QES recipients.

Jeremy holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from UFV while Lisa is a current Bachelor of Social Work student.

The duo’s research, funded by the QES program and Global Affairs Canada in partnership with the Aga Khan University and the Aga Khan Foundation, tackles food shortages in urban centres in Kenya and other East African cities. The students also worked with Ardhi Regional University. As arable land comes under pressure from development, urban sprawl, water shortages, and rapid population growth, solutions for sustainable and secure food production are vital.

Cities and Food Conference

BioPods in Surrey host agri-tech experiments and provide research data on new and sustainable methods of urban food production.

On June 10, the University of the Fraser Valley’s Agriculture Centre of Excellence will host Cities and Food, a conference highlighting Wagner and Harrington’s projects and other food security work. The conference brings together a consortium of experts to discuss the ways in which food systems can be developed in secure and sustainable ways. The conference is open to the public and tickets are available here.

For more information, please contact Cherie Enns, Associate Professor of Geography and the Environment at Cherie.Enns@ufv.ca.